


Janus & Balthazar Collection

by fightmecorypheus (alex_archer)



Series: Janus and Balthazar [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 03:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3753016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex_archer/pseuds/fightmecorypheus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of fics and ficlets I write about my Inquisitor Janus and her Tranquil Inquisitor baby brother Balthazar.<br/>Balthazar belongs to my friend (thetrashhero.tumblr.com)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Janus & Balthazar Collection

**Author's Note:**

> This is set After Doom Unto All The World  
> [Do not, under any circumstances, listen to Oblivion while reading this.]

Balthazar’s hand was cold to the touch and shaking in hers. Janus traced the veins on the top and rubbed her thumb across his skin. Turning the hand over, she placed her mark over his, a green light glowing between them.  
“This is real, Balthazar,” she spoke softly, reassuring her brother. “You are going to be okay. Corypheus is gone, the fade is back to normal, and you are still you. You need not worry anymore,” Her words, however, were empty. Her voice was filled with false confidence in her statement, but her heart pounded as fear racked her body. She never understood what exactly he went through in Ostwick, and she never truly will. All she could do was promise him that nothing like that would ever happen again. It killed her a little every time she did. She could fight demons and destroy monsters, but she would never be able to vanquish the threat of emptiness that plagued him.  
So many scars decorated her skin, and his was pristine. The only thing that marked his skin was the colorful tattoo around his eyes and the dull pink sunburst on his forehead. One was decorative, the other was informative. The symbol of the Chantry marked that he was no more than an empty vessel.  
He was a Tranquil who knew no emotion or sensations. He saw no color and knew no happiness from the moment they burnt it into him. The lyrium laced in with the brand made it so he was unable to use magic. Once he connected with the anchor and the fade, those sensations came back. He began to feel and he smiled for the first time in years. The idea that that might disappear, and he might slip into the numb darkness terrified Janus.  
“We don’t know that this will last. The anchor was a blessing and a curse which was forced on me and I don’t want that to cripple me for my entire life,” Balthazar confessed.  
Janus’s eyebrows raised in confusion, “What about that will cripple you now that we’ve defeated Corypheus?”  
Balthazar took a deep breath and pulled away from Janus to bury his face in his hands, “It gave me false hope.”  
“It wasn’t false hope, Balth. You are not going to disappear again. Those Templar bastards that tormented you cannot hurt you any more. We’re together. You have Dorian. You have a life, a future,” Janus pulled his hands away from his face.  
“You say that so easily. I can’t even dwell on my past or future without feeling a sense of dread. Janus, you- I-” Balthazar’s face hardened. Janus knew that this conversation was over, her brother’s shields were back up. She gave a small smile and looked down at her own hands.  
“I wasn’t going to give this to you, not until the celebration tomorrow, but it feels right now,” Janus stood and gathered a small box from the dresser. She returned to the bed and sat next to him. She turned the box over in her hands nervously, “Dagna helped me. Harritt helped with the wooden bits, I didn’t want Dagna to handle anymore flammable materials than needed…”  
“What is it?” Janus looked up as her brother spoke. The eagerness and impatience in his voice were reflected on his face. He was like the boy she knew a long time ago. She reached over and put the box in his lap, her hand lingering for a moment as though she wanted to take it back. Her brother did not allow that to happen, and he immediately tore into the paper. Reaching into the box, he pulled out a small statuette.  
The statue was of a great oak tree. In it’s branches was a small elven girl threatening to drop a rock on the boy reading below her. The statue was made from both metal and wooden, seamlessly fused together to create a breathtaking likeness of their former selves.  
“Janus, it’s so small. I didn’t know you could handle anything this small without smashing it with a hammer,” Balthazar smiled and winked at Janus, teasing a light punch on the shoulder from her.  
“By the Maker, Balth… Do you like it?” Janus spoke softly.  
“Of course I do, I love it,” Balthazar closed his eyes in concentration and waved a hand over the statue. The leaves on the tree began to shimmer and they turned from the dull brown of the wood to the color of fall. The leaves fell and were soon replaced with buds that formed into greener leaves than Janus had ever seen. She could have sworn she saw the smile of miniature her grow. The small Balthazar seemed to turn his gaze from one page to another.  
“Balthazar… You-” Janus was near speechless, not a condition often rendered upon her.  
“I know, I’m brilliant,” Balthazar didn’t look at his sister, though. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the now magic object in his hands. This was a symbol of both change and steadiness. Janus was correct, no time could have been better than right now.


End file.
